Gundam Wing Sleepover
by CCrazyTom
Summary: Cathrine babysits all the Gundam pilots who are kids. Mayhem follows. Simple fun with a hint of yaoi pairing at some parts. *FINISHED*


I do not own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do not intended to make a profit, etc........  
Gundam Sleepover  
A loud whistle pierced the once quiet Winner mansion. Shortly after it, Cathrine's shrill voice could be heard echoing about the house, "Children!" Cathrine exclaimed, "come to me. It's time to take your bath."   
"Yay!" Duo exclaimed, overjoyed from where he was scarfing a bag of potato chips in the second kitchen on the first story, "I love bath time!"   
As the five hyper children slowly traveled from their various positions around the Winner mansion, Wufei muttered, "You love everything."   
The small Chinese boy set down his silver letter opener and walked calmly over to where their baby-sitter was waiting at the doorway to the third living room. As he did, Duo tore through that section of the house, jumping off an oversized stuffed couch, and landing dangerously close to a priceless vase which sat pricariously near the edge of a finely crafted table. "I heard that! At least I don't play with a stupid letter opener!" he snapped back.   
"It's not a letter opener!" Wufei growled to the best of his eight-year-old ability, "It's a katana and for your information I'm practicing to become a warrior."  
"Oh yeah!" the god of death was not to be outdone, "Well......" the poneytailed boy paused, unable to think of a good reply. Instead, he darted forward and kicked his nemesis in the shins. Before Wufei could counter, Duo dived behind their guardian yelling at the top of his lungs, "Fei-Fei's trying to kill me! Save me!"  
The fifteen-year-old girl resisted the urge to snap and instead took a deep breath, reminding herself how much Mr. Winner was paying for this five-way baby-sitting job. "Where are those little mongrels?" she wondered, "This house is so huge it could take them literal hours just to get to me. If they heard at all. Speaking of which, where's my little brother?"   
As Duo hid behind the safety of her leg, Cathrine prepared to bellow a second time when Heero stormed into the room. "Ah good, there you are," the relieved baby-sitter exhaled, glad not to have to search for yet another small child.   
The dark eyed child slowly turned, giving her a cold stare, "I'll destroy you," he whispered.  
Cathrine shivered, remembering Mr. Winner's instructions. "Little Quatre's going to have some of his friends over. They won't be too much trouble. Oh, Duo has a habit of breaking things, Wufei usually starts a fight, but Quatre shouldn't be any problem, he mainly stays around that other boy, Trowa. Oh, but watch out for Heero. He has some....... issues. He might have some mood swings, so just keep an eye on him."  
Duo, quickly forgetting the dangers of Wufei's violent temper, jumped out of his hiding place to run over to Heero. "That's OK," he explained quickly, already out of breath, "I don't like baths either!"  
Wufei looked up from where he was practicing some "Kung Fu" moves he'd seen on TV. It was hard to do with oversized little boy sneakers. "Injustice! You just said-"   
Duo cut him off by hugging Heero happily, "We'll just have to make it fun!" he explained.   
  
  
  
Heero eyed the other boy, trying to decide whether his hyper companion was an enemy or a friend. As the normally stern boy debated the merit in his comrade's statement Trowa and Quatre waltzed in. They were holding hands and Quatre was trying to teach Trowa how to skip. They were both giggling excitedly. When the older boy saw the other people, however, he quickly straitened, catching his breath and putting on a sterner appearance. There were images to keep up, after all.  
Quatre looked up, following his friend's gaze. Cathrine tapped her foot to show her annoyance. Quatre explained, still giggling slightly, "We were having tea with Mr. Bunny and the rabbit family. I had to call Rashid to pick up for us."  
"I see," Cathrine raised an eyebrow. The kid was so spoiled it was amazing. "Some people have all the luck," she thought.  
"Well, it's time for your baths," she informed the pair.   
Duo jumped up and down, holding Heero's hands and trying to get the other boy to join in. Finally, Heero cracked and the pair jumped up and down repeatedly. "What are we jumping for?" the normally stern boy asked in his ever monotone voice.   
"Because," Duo explained quickly and in one breath, "Baths mean toys! Big robot fun in the tub!"   
"Nataku isn't a robot! Nor is it a toy!" Wufei quickly interjected, "It's a work of art!"  
"Nuh uh!" Quatre exclaimed. "This is art!" he informed the mistaken boy, pointing to a picture he had drawn which currently hung in an expensive frame. Inside the frame, three smiley faces that vaguely resembled people were holding hands. They all were drawin in crayon with numerous "pretty" colors.  
"What is it?" Heero asked coldly, ceasing to jump and sitting down on the floor suddenly.   
Quatre's lip began to tremble as he hurriedly explained his picture, "Can't you see? It's Mr. Bunny. See, I'm on one side, and and Mr. Bunny's in the middle and Trowa's on the other side! Don't you get it?" he asked again, his lip wavering uncontrollably.  
Trowa squeezed his hand reassuringly, whispering in his friend's ear, "I see it," he reassured.  
Cathrine exhaled heavily, this was going to be a long evening. "Children......" she drew out the word, twisting it, making it both curse and a command, "your 'Aunty' Cathy is getting very short tempered. If you would please HURRY UP!"  
At the last explosion, everyone jumped. Even Heero looked a little nervous under their psychotic baby-sitter's unsettling glare. Only Trowa remained relatively unfazed. "Come on," he whispered to a trembling Quatre, "let's do what she says."  
Trowa led the whimpering boy past his older sister, giving her a glare as he walked by. "Well......" she asked expectantly, clapping her hands. Duo decided that this wouldn't be a good time to complain about Heero's bad habit of picking his nose. Giving a wild war whoop, he prepared to take the oversized bathroom by storm. Dragging Heero behind him, the restless child darted between Cathrine's legs.   
Wufei was the last to leave, gathering up his Gundam model. "It's not a toy," continued to grumble. Even after a vicious look from their knife throwing baby-sitter, he continued to mumble, "Well it's not."  
  
As the odd group entered the Winner's oversized bathroom, Duo stopped short, in obvious awe. "Wow!" he exclaimed, an awestruck grin planted on his face. The bathroom was huge. It might have been his imagination, but Duo could have sworn he heard an echo from his cry. The bathroom had two bathtubs parallel to each other. Between them, a huge hotub gushed water from a small statue. It had no less than six sinks with well cleaned handles and gigantic mirrors. The tile floor seemed to gleam and everything was in spit spot condition. Duo was in shock. There was so much stuff to screw with! "Wow," he said again.  
"That's really something," Trowa agreed.   
"It's pretty big," Heero admitted.  
"Gigantic!" Duo squealed, already running from bathtub to bathtub, turning on the water full blast.  
"It's not that bad," Wufei sniffed.  
Slowly Trowa and Heero turned to stare at him. The Chinese boy looked placidly back, as if saying, "I know what you want and I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of hearing me say it."  
Meanwhile, Cathrine was carrying piles of clothes. On the bottom were Quatre's well folded bunny pajamas with cute feet. They were an attractive Robin's Egg Blue and had a little white bunny tail on the end. Above that Trowa's matching checkered shirt and pants and Wufei's white Chinese robes were also folded neatly. Heero's outfit was a pair of shorts and loose T-Shirt. Finally, Duo's clothes lay in a crumpled bunch. They were well wrinkled and has a few stains on them, but they were the cleanest clothes he had.  
Nearly out of breath, she dropped the pile in a heap, almost spreading the mostly neat stack across the polished floor. Straightening, she glanced around the room and couldn't hold back a shriek. "Duo! Put your clothes on right now! Or cover yourself or.......... something!"  
"Why?" Duo asked curiously, removing the last offending sock. He now stood facing the group completely naked. "It's naked time!" he announced.  
Trowa hid Quatre's eyes as Heero blushed furiously. It was Wufei, however, that summed it up best. "That's it?" he asked, sounding unimpressed.  
"What do you mean that's it?" Duo demanded, his eyes suddenly narrowing.   
Wufei smiled unexpectedly and shrugged. "I don't know. I heard it on TV once. This guy and girl were in a bathroom at a hotel. It looked like this one and the guy took off his clothes and the girl looked at him and said, 'that's it?' and then she took off her clothes and then-"  
Cathrine quickly interrupted. "OK, Wufei. I think you can tell that story later. Right now it's time for everyone to take their baths."  
"Now?" Quatre squeaked, suddenly becoming very aware that in order to take a bath, one must get naked.   
"NOW!" Cathrine growled.   
  
  
  
  
"Wait!" Duo attempted to slap his head dramatically. It was harder than it looked. "We......" he paused for dramatic affect. When he realized nobody was paying attention, he stamped his bare foot against the ground. "Hey! Pay attention to me! Naked here! We forgot all the toys!"  
Wufei, who was midway into removing his shirt, said something totally incomprehensible.   
"What?" Duo asked.   
"I said," Wufei replied, removing the offending shirt, "Nataku is not a toy!"  
"Yeah, yeah," Duo rolled his eyes, "It's a work of art!"  
"You shouldn't take drawings in the bath," Quatre piped up helpfully. "I tried to once and it melted," he finished sadly.  
Trowa squeezed his hand reassuringly.   
Duo, seeing this, pointed at them. "Trowa likes Quatre. Trowa likes Quatre!" he taunted.  
Heero joined in, "Trowa and Quatre sitting in a tree, K I um..... how's it spelled again?" he finished sheepishly.   
"K I S S I N G," Wufei interjected, "Don't you know anything?"  
Heero looked away, glowering, "They mainly teach me how to fight 'an stuff. But they say I'm really good at it!" he added.  
"People!" Cathrine threw her hands up in the air in despair. "Take off your clothes already! It's time to take your baths! Besides, Trowa and Quatre can't kiss because they're boys!"  
"Nuh uh!" Wufei contradicted. "I bumped into their older brothers kissing and stuff in Katoru's room."  
"Well. They're special. Besides you shouldn't spy on other people's siblings," Cathrine quickly responded.  
"I wasn't spying on them! And even if I was, I wasn't spying on siblings, I was spying on Trowa's and Quatre's brothers!" Wufei explained.  
"That's enough! Everybody take off their clothes! Except me. Because I'm the baby-sitter. And Duo, get in the tub already!"  
Quatre turned red as Wufei and Trowa began stripping off their little shirts. He looked at Cathy who was chasing Duo around the bathroom and hoped nobody would notice. After removing his shirt, Trowa noticed that his friend wasn't following his example. "What's wrong?" he asked.  
"I..... I don't wanna take off my shirt and pants," he whispered, going a deeper shade of scarlet.   
"But Quatre, see how everyone else is? It's OK, just go at your own speed" Trowa sympathized.  
By now Cathrine had noticed Quatre's hesitance. "Quatre, take off your clothes already!" she snapped.  
"Back off Cathy!" Trowa shot back without thought off the risks.  
For a second Cathrine couldn't believe Trowa had spoken back. When she recovered, she growled. "Shut up, Trowa! Or I'll make you shove elephant dung for a week!"  
Trowa paled visibly. This was the ultimate punishment. To his immense relief, Quatre finally began to strip and he went back to the task of undoing his belt. Finally satisfied, Cathrine went back to the difficult task of getting Duo into the bath.   
The pair; child and sitter, tore across the large bathroom. Cathrine growled, as the naked boy darted beneath her grasp. Duo positioned himself on one side of the large hotub with the statue safely between him and the annoyed caretaker. "Duo," Cathrine snarled, tired of their little game, "just get in the water!"  
"No," Duo pouted, "I don't want to!"  
"Why the hell not?" Cathrine yelled, forgetting to watch her mouth.   
"Oooh," a half naked Quatre winced, "I don't like conflict," he whimpered from beneath a half removed shirt.  
"Cause," Duo answered shortly. Meanwhile, Heero and Wufei were rooting through their large pile of action figures. Earlier that day they'd made a bet on who would win and now were ready to backup their claims.   
"Um. Trowa?" Quatre sniveled. Trowa, now in only his underwear, turned to see Quatre's predicament. The small blonde boy was caught in his shirt. Not accustomed to having to undress himself, Quatre had become tangled in undershirt. "Help?" the small boy pleaded. Eager to assist his best friend and get out of the way of his rampaging sister, Trowa quickly began to help Quatre remove his clothes.  
By now Cathrine had gotten fed up and in a blind expression of rage tore around the hotub, itching to get her hands on the nerve grinding child. But Duo was faster and in two steps and a leap he was on the base of the statue. Eager to get as far away from his enraged baby-sitter as he could, the 8-year-old clamored up the sculpture using every available handhold.   
"Duo!" Wufei scolded, looking up from a growing pile of figures.   
"Why? What is- ohmygod!" Heero exclaimed, his combat training not enough to prepare him for such a shocking sight.  
"What's going on?" Quatre squeaked from underneath his tangled shirt.  
"Nothing," Trowa murmured in his ear, "Just stay under there till I say it's OK to come out."  
"Well isn't that disgusting," Cathrine commented from below Duo. Her hands were on her hips and she had a vicious sneer on her face.   
"I didn't do anything," Duo protested, looking down at his foothold.   
The statue that the preadolescent boy had chosen to climb was an older, European style piece. Duo had chosen the only available handhold to get up and now had his weight resting upon his bare foot which was firmly planted against the outcrop.   
"Oops," Duo shifted uncomfortably.   
"Hey. Why is there a naked man made out of stone in the middle of the hotub?" Trowa asked.  
"What!" Quatre yelped trying desperately to remove his shirt, "Let me see!"  
"Well," Cathrine paused, "It's a type of art."  
"It looks like a naked man to me," Heero commented.  
By now Duo was getting uncomfortable with his chosen foothold and he shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Uh, Cathrine, can I come down now?"  
"No way!" the harsh girl replied, an evil thought springing into her head, "You wanted to go up there, you can stay up there!"  
"But," Duo spluttered, "but I'm standing on his penis!"  
"Well you'll just have to deal with that, won't you!" Cathrine grinned.   
Finally Quatre and Trowa, in a combined effort, managed to get the blonde boy free from his shirt. With a loud popping noise, the small boy burst from the top. Quatre spun on the slippery bathroom floor, landing hard on his rear. "Ouch!" he yelped.   
Promptly, the little boy shrieked covering his eyes with one hand. "Eww! Duo, get off that!"  
Duo looked around nervously, his little prank gone horribly wrong. With Cathrine below him, there was no where to go but down. As Wufie and Heero finished positioning their robots on the edge of the bathtubs and prepared to enter the steaming water, he made up his mind.   
"Aaaaiiiiii!" he yelled at the top of his lungs before throwing himself into the waters below. With a gigantic splash, Duo landed inside the warm waters, drenching the unfortunate girl nearby.  
"Ach!" Cathrine spluttered. Her clothes were sopping wet and her wet bangs were already getting in her eyes. Her normally curly hair clung to the sides of her face. "Why you!" she growled as the room erupted into laughter. Quatre, rubbing his sore bottom, slowly stood.  
Glancing around, she found a weaker target to vent her anger on. "Quatre!" she yelled, wiping her bangs from her eyes, "Why aren't in the tub? That goes for you too, Trowa!"  
Trowa sighed but decide to pick and choose his battles. Besides, there was no one to tattle her on and she was in charge. Life was unfair. As he stripped off his remaining articles of clothing Quatre meekly peeped up from behind him. "I. I'm too embarrassed. Can I put on a swimming suit or something? Please."  
"No!" Cathrine snapped, having taken all the backtalk she could stand for one night, "Hurry up! Fine, I'll do it for you!"  
To Trowa's alarm, his older sister walked nearer and in five large steps was next to his angel. To his further horror, she grasped Quatre's brown khakis and began yanking them viciously. "No! Leave him alone!" Trowa yelled.  
"Shut up Trowa!" Cathrine grunted. The blonde boy could take it no longer and he began to wail. Tears ran down his cheeks as his baby-sitter mercilessly tugged at his pants.   
Hearing his good friend cry out made something inside Trowa snapped. With a roar that didn't sound as if it could come from a eight-year-old, the naked adolescent launched himself at his sister.   
"Leave him alone!" he screamed, landing on his sister's back.   
"Trowa! Get off!" Cathrine grunted, still grabbing onto the offending khakis, "Leave me alone!"  
Trowa grunted, putting all his strength into his skinny arms. In the background the other gundam boys cheered loudly. Here at last was some quality entertainment.   
Bent over with Trowa on her back, Cathrine took a few unsteady steps backward, dragging the other boy with her. Finally, she let go and Trowa dropped to the ground, breathing hard. "Fine!" she snapped, "he can wear a towel or something."  
Angrily, she stalked off to yell at Wufei and Heero about the mass number of toys in their bath battlefield. As soon as she had turned her back, Quatre jumped on Trowa giving him a hug. "Thank you so much! You saved me! I'll be your best friend forever!"  
Trowa blushed under the onslaught of compliments. "It was nothing," he mumbled in embarrassment and pleasure.  
"I'll love you forever," Quatre whispered in his ear before breaking away quickly. Trowa, blushing furiously, smiled shyly. With a suddenly timid demeanor, Trowa ran over to grab a small white bath towel off a rack. Scampering back over, his bare feet slapping against the smooth tile, he held it out in front of him. "I think you wanted this," he said quietly.  
Quatre smiled, nodding and favoring his Trowa with a smile. "Thanks," he replied.   
Trowa grinned, as if being thanked was all he could ever want. He continued to watch his best friend's face as Quatre removed the remainder of his clothing. "He's my little angel. We'll be best friends forever," he thought happily.  
Meanwhile, Heero and Wufei were battling it out between their pint sized forces. For children their age, they were remarkably intent at their game. "I'm pulling up my Leos to your right flank," Heero informed his opponent, carefully reaching out a pruned hand and placing the trio of toys nearer to where Wufei's toys were floating.   
"Hang on," Wufei snarled, "My forces are floating towards me. They should be up here."  
"Nuh uh," Heero shook his head, "You're trying to cheat."  
"Only weak people cheat!" Wufei angrily spluttered, "You're just afraid I'm going to beat you!"  
"Nuh uh!"  
"Yuh huh!"  
"Weakling!"  
"Cheater!"  
By now Cathrine was looming over them. "Children! Please! Can't you just play with some soap or something?"   
Wufei pointed at Heero accusingly, "He started it!"   
"I don't care who started it!" Cathrine informed the wet Chinese boy. "Just finish your bath so we can get dry."  
"But we have to find out who's a better warrior!" Heero protested.  
"You're both the best," Cathrine ventured.  
"Well I'm the bestest," Wufei shot back as their mutual baby-sitter began to turn her back to stop Duo from yanking away Quatre's towel.  
"Well I'm the bestestest!" Heero replied in a hushed tone.  
"Well I'm the bestestestest!" Wufei declared, splashing the other boy.   
Heero responded in full force causing a small wave to hit the Chinese boy and water to slosh off the side.   
"Water fight!" Duo screamed, forgetting Quatre's cloth cover. Cathrine spun, trying to stop the havoc that would ensue, but she was too late.  
As Wufei and Heero opened up in full force, Duo grabbed his Supersoaker Extra Pressure Double X 500 Beta 2.0 and began blasting the whole room. "Oooh no!" Cathrine wailed as a misfire drenched the neatly folded stack of clothes.   
"Weakling!" Wufei yelled, his voice coming out high pitched and squeaky as he kicked at the water, drenching Heero.  
"Coward!" Heero responded with a huge flood of water which slopped over Wufei and onto the floor in mass.  
"Yeeeeeeeeeha!" Duo screamed, taking cover behind the naked man while unloading on a disgruntled Cathrine.  
Trowa and Quatre were making their way over to one of the other bathtubs when the waterfight started. "Uh oh," Trowa muttered glancing behind them to see Duo break away to join the fight.   
"What?" Quatre asked turning to view the chaos that was erupting. Unfortunately for him, he had chosen to turn just as a huge tital wave from Duo swept his way as the poneytailed boy leapt into the safety of the hotub. As his eyes widened, the gigantic surge of water hit him full on, drenching the poor boy from head to toe. To his further embarrassment, it caused the clean towel to pool around his feet.   
Quatre's lip trembled as he stared stupidly straight ahead as the other boys paused their fight to laugh at his boyhood. Trowa, eager to help his good friend, tried to assist by covering his friend, thus causing a even bigger outburst from the other boys.  
"Trowa! Keep you hands to yourself!" Cathrine snapped before turning back to the 'little mongrels.'  
Trowa, blushing furiosly, quickly removed his hands and stood between Quatre and the other boys' prying eyes. "OK, guys. The jokes over," he informed them, breaking his usual code of silence.  
"Geeze, Trowa," Duo raised an eyebrow, still giggling occationally, "You're no fun."  
"It's not funny," Trowa replied, fighting to keep his temper.  
"I think it's funny," Duo shot back.  
"Hey, Quatre," Wufei shouted from the far side of the bathroom, "Why isn't your little wiggly more like the one on the statue?"  
"Little wiggly?" Heero repeated as Wufei and Duo burst into hysterics.   
"At least the waterfight has ended," Cathrine thought to herself, deciding to let the boys settle this one on their own, assuming they don't make a mess or involve her, "I hope they rip out each others throats," she thought, settling back to watch the carnage.  
While this exchange of verbal attacks was going on, Quatre had wrapped himself in the safety of a showercurtain. From the cheep plastic his muffled voice came out, "It's dainty, OK?"  
Wufei chuckled in his high pitched child voice, "This coming from the person with 29 sisters of course," he shot back, "Did they tell you that?"  
"Well," Quatre drew out the word, unwilling to state the answer.   
"He doesn't have to answer that!" Trowa yelled, cutting his friend off before he could make a further embarrassment of himself. "Besides," he added slyly, "You're not one to be talking, Wufei. You and your little Chinese staff. Some perfect warrior you are. If your thingy was a real weapon it would be the letter opener you're so obsessed with."  
"Are you making fun of my manhood?" Wufei demanded.   
Duo, eager to take advantage of an opportunity such as that, jumped on, "What manhood? Oh! I thought that was a pimple or weird growth or something."  
From the sidelines, Cathrine chuckled silently, before sneezing. "Got to get out of these wet clothes soon," she thought.  
"Quatre! Get in the water already!" she yelled.  
"But it's cold!" the spoiled Arabian called back.   
"I'll help," Trowa volunteered, eager to keep his sister as far away from his best friend as possible. The girl threw knives for a living! Besides, he was used to taking care of himself. Trowa walked carefully over the circular hotub and turned on the hot water. Ignoring the chaos around them, he waited until the water had gone up several inches. "Is that good?" he asked.  
Quatre dipped in one bare toe before jerking it back, "No! It's too hot now!" he complained. Trowa sighed silently. In all his cuteness, Quatre was really spoiled. He quickly switched the water to cold and let it fill up more.  
"Now?" he asked a second time. The small blonde boy again moved out a bare foot and dipped in a single toe. He quickly yanked it away, "Now it's too cold!" he complained. Growling inwardly, Trowa turned the water back to heat and waited.   
"Is it good now?" he inquired. The blonde boy hesitantly reached out a foot and put it into the water. To Trowa's relief, he didn't react this time.   
"It's good," Quatre agreed, "But Trowa!"  
"What is it, Quatre?" Trowa asked impatiently. He was only 8 and 1/2 after all. His patience only went so far.   
"It's too deep now!" Quatre whimpered, pointing a slim finger, "See! I could get sucked under!"  
Trowa sighed and smiled at the same time. He was caught between annoyance and laughter. "I'll make sure you don't get sucked under," he promised.  
"OK," Quatre agreed. The small blonde boy paused for a moment before slipping himself into the waters of the hotub. As Wufei responded by throwing a plastic toy, Trowa stepped into water next to his friend.  
"Hi!" Quatre squeaked happily.   
"Hello," Trowa responded slowly. Ignoring the chaos behind them, the pair sat and looked at each other for several moments, getting used to close proximity between the two naked boys.  
"So, I think we're supposed to get clean," Trowa hesitantly broke the silence.   
"Yup," Quatre agreed, nodding his head vigorously. Trowa nodded back, pushing his long hair out of his eyes, he reached for a bar of soap and began to scrub himself vigorously. Noticing Quatre's lack of movement, he paused.  
"What are you waiting for?" he asked as Quatre stared at him.   
"Aren't you going to wash me?" the over-pampered boy asked expectantly.   
"Well," Trowa paused. He tried to raise an eyebrow but only succeeded in scrunching up his face.   
"Please Trowa," the blonde boy begged, "Pretty please with a cherry on top."  
"Well......." Trowa said again, his will beginning to weaken. Eventually someone was going to have to teach Quatre how to take care of himself.  
"Pretty please with a cherry on top and extra fudge sauce!" Quatre pleaded, clasping his hands together.  
Someday someone was going to have to teach him how to take care of himself someday, but this was not that day. "All right," Trowa gave in, "now turn around so I can wash your back."   
"Yay!" Quatre squealed turning around obediently, "Start at the top left and go right and then down," he ordered   
Trowa rolled his eyes and got to work. Quatre could be really bossy sometimes.   
"Thank you Trowa," Quatre said sweetly as Trowa began to gently scrub the pale Arabian's skin, causing the other boy to smile. You just couldn't be mad at someone like Quatre.  
Trowa slowly made his way down the other boy's back, scrubbing the small arch of his shoulders, the small of his back, the slight curve of his hips. When he reached the bottom of Quatre's back and the edge of his nether portions, he paused. "Why did you stop?" the blonde boy asked, turning his head so he could look at his assistant.   
"There's nowhere else to scrub," Trowa explained shrugging.  
"Of course there is!" Quatre informed him before realizing where the other place was. "Oh dear," he squeaked, turning a dark shade of pink.   
"It's OK," Trowa reasured, trying to ease Quatre's embarassement and cover up his own. "We'll just skip those parts. You can get Rashid or someone to wash them later."  
"OK," Quatre agreed. "Now let me wash you!"  
"OK......" Trowa agreed hesitantly handing over the soap. Quatre reached for it, his slim fingers grasping the slipper sphere.   
"All right," Quatre put on his "adult" voice. "Now you just hold still."  
Trowa smiled as the other boy began a game he insisted on playing every time Trowa came over. Quatre called it "playing mommy." As the boy had no mother of his own, he often pretended to be what he thought one would be like. So he'd pretend to be a mommy and pamper Trowa, obeying his every whim with a big smile. Quatre loved it because it allowed him to think about how great a mother would be like by pretending to be one. Of course Trowa didn't mind because all he had to do was sit there and be served on hand and foot. It was a great game and the shy boy loved the attention though Trowa was terribly embarrassed to admit it to the other boys.   
"Now I'll just start at your top and then wash your tummy!" Quatre smiled, "Is that OK, little boy?"   
"Yes! Thank you, mommy!" Trowa played along. He waited for Quatre to continue the game and shut his eyes so the other boy wouldn't accidentally get soap in them. When nothing happened for several seconds, Trowa slowly opened his eyes. Quatre was staring at the bar of soap as if he didn't quite no what to do with it.   
"Would you like me to show you how?" Trowa gently asked.  
"No thank you, little boy. Mommy can do it all by himself," Quatre responded quickly, failing to notice his mistake in word choice. The blonde boy eyed the white block, trying to decide what it was supposed to do. Finally, he conceded defeat. "Trowa!" he whined, annoyed at the abrupt end to his game, "Make it work!"  
In his distress, Quatre thrust the soap forward and the slippery object slipped out of his hand and into the water. Eager to help and get on with the game, Quatre bent over to grab it. Unfortunately it had landed in Trowa's lap and Quatre's slim fingers grabbed on a different type of rod entirely. As Trowa's eyes went wide, Quatre realized what he had a grip on and squealed. "Eeeep!"   
Scrambling backwards, the two embarrassed boys turned their individual shades of pink in their discomfort. "Trowa, I'm sorry!" Quatre apologized clumsily, tears beginning to brim in his eyes.   
"It's OK," Trowa reassured. Inside his heart was pounding. He could feel his face growing hot as his heart sped up, pumping blood throughout his body. As he realized what was happening, he grew flushed. It had happened only a few times before. Though he had no one in particular to educate him about such things, Trowa lived at the circus after all, and he picked up on things. As he'd found out less than two weeks before, Trowa was an early developer. With Quatre right in front of him, there was no way to hide it. He squinted his eyes shut and prayed for a miracle.   
"Eeeeee!" Quatre shrieked, "What IS that?" Trowa looked down at his inflated boyhood. It was too late to hide it now. If there had been any chance of getting away unnoticed before, it was gone. "I'm sorry!" Quatre burst into tears, "I'm so sorry I broke it. I'll get someone to fix it! I promise!"   
"Huh," Trowa said, confused. This was not what he had expected.  
"I grabbed it so hard it got swollen just like my finger when I got stung by that mean 'ol bee!" Quatre wailed. Trowa realized what Quatre had assumed and was just about to explain, when Cathrine's loud voice cut him off.   
"Trowa! Quatre! What's going on over here! Why is Quatre sobbing?" Cathrine's hard eyes quickly scanned the tub, assessing the situation. When they landed on Trowa, she screamed and stumbled away from the bathtub, covering her eyes. "Oh my god! TROWA BARTON! PUT THAT THING AWAY RIGHT NOW!" Trowa wished he was dead. "Oh god! My eyes, they burn!" Cathrine screamed. By now, the other gundam pilots had shifted their attention to Trowa.   
"Hey Trowa, what is that?" Duo yelled curiously.   
"I know what it is," Wufei bragged, "That's what happened to the guy on that show I watched."   
"Woa!" Duo yelled, impressed, "Trowa! Can I touch it?" Before anyone could stop him, Duo reached out a single finger and poked Trowa's shaft. From the other bathtub, Heero looked silently on with interest.   
"NO!" Cathrine yelled, still covering her eyes, "Nobody is touching anything! I can't take any more of this! I'm- I'm going to go get some dry clothes and you're going to get dressed." As Cathrine stumbled out the door, Trowa was relieved to find his snake had slowly returned to its former state.   
"Awww," Duo whined, "It went away again." The boy with the short attention span returned to his tub and started an argument with Wufei instead.   
"So I didn't break it?" Quatre asked, his lip quivering.   
"No," Trowa said firmly, "It's supposed to do that. Can we talk about something else?"   
Meanwhile, Duo's little "jest" with Wufei was exploding into an all out brawl. Without adult supervision, or Cathrine if no adults were available, there was no reason to hold back. "I hate you!" Duo yelled, reaching for the nearest object. Snatching one of the models, he heaved it at Wufei.   
  
The young warrior threw himself to the ground, once again splashing water everywhere. The toy hit the wall behind him and smashed into pieces. Wufei, furious, grabbed another hard object at his advisary. Duo was too nimble, however, and the toy sailed behind him. Trowa looked up just as Duo launched the miniature robot. "Quatre!" he yelled in warning.   
The blonde boy turned slowly, just in time to have the toy hit him in the middle of his forehead, softened from the water. For a moment he just stood there, stunned. Duo took one look at him and pointed accusingly at Wufei, "He did it!"   
Failing to surprise anyone, Quatre burst into tears. As Trowa came forward to comfort his friend, Duo turned to Wufei and yelled, "Now look what you've done!" Trowa embraced his friend, speaking softly in soothing tones. "There there," he cooed, "Show Trowa where it hurts."   
Between sobs, Quatre managed to point at the red mark in the middle of his forehead, softened from the water. Trowa gently brushed up against his friend, trying not to think about how they were both naked and touching each other. He lowered his head and gently kissed Quatre's wound, causing the other boy to slowly cease his sobs.   
"Thank you," Quatre whispered, giving the other boy a hug, "It feels better now." At this point, the door banged open and Cathrine stormed in. Seeing Trowa and Quatre hugging on to one another, she screeched, "Trowa! Get your hands off Quatre this instant! Nobody wants to see that! Everyone, dry off right now! We're getting dressed this instant!"   
"But!" Duo protested, lowering a hunk of plastic from his throwing position.   
"Not buts!" Cathrine screeched, "I've seen more than enough of those already today! Hurry up before you make me get my knives out of my backpack!"  
"You don't have knives!" Duo contradicted as everyone slowly got out of the water. Trowa hid a smile underneath a towel as he hurriedly dried himself off so he could assist Quatre.  
"Wanna bet!" Cathrine snapped confidently, "I'll slice you into pieces and then feed you to Treize's parakeets!"   
"Can I watch?" Wufei asked innocently, giving his nemesis a dirty look.  
"No!" Cathrine yelled, rolling her eyes, "And you'll be next if you don't shut your trap!"  
Trowa finished drying his hair which now pressed limply into the skin of his face. Wishing for a comb, Trowa quickly moved over to dry off his soaking playmate. The room was unusually quiet as the baby-sitter stormed around the room like a tornado. Maybe it was her aggressive use of a mop that seemed to sail all too close to her charges as she worked. When everyone was dry, the boys carefully made their way over to the stack of pajamas, their feet pattering against the ground.   
"Wait, wait, wait!" Duo shouted as everyone began to reach out a hand, "Let's have a contest to see if we can guess which PJs belong to who!"  
"This isn't fair," Trowa grumbled, "I can't see with my bangs in my eyes."  
"Well even a blind person could see that the pink pajamas with the bunny feet belong to Quatre!" Wufei laughed. Cathrine had brought in Quatre's pink bunny pajamas instead of the blue ones. Quatre had three different colors after all.  
"I like bunny feet, OK?" Quatre defended himself, "Cause they're cute," he added.  
"I think they're adorable," Trowa whispered in his ear.   
"Why?" Heero asked coldly.  
"Ooops!" Trowa yelped, "Wrong boy. Stupid hair!"  
"Why don't you just cut it?" Heero inquired.  
"I can't," he explained poutingly, "Cathrine likes boys with long hair so she says she'll make me sleep with the tigers if I shorten it."  
"Excuse me!" Duo yelled, trying to divert the attention back to him, "We're playing a game, remember!"  
Quatre, overcome with the excitement of the game, began to jump up and down, nearly slipping on the wet floor. Trowa grabbed his slim shoulders to steady him. "Let me guess next!" the blonde begged.   
"OK," Duo agreed. After all, as long as he was in charge who cared who went next? "Go ahead!"  
Trowa smiled as Quatre put his pruned thumb in his mouth, sucking thoughtfully. The little boy's eyes darted around carefully. When his eyes fixed on a long white fabric he pulled the small thumb out of his mouth to voice his choice. "Well......." he drew out the word. "I bet the bathrobe is Wufei's!"  
As the small group of boys burst into giggles, Wufei straightened indignantly. "Injustice! It's not a bathrobe! It is a traditional Chinese garment worn by all our best worriers and scholars."  
"So why do you have one?" Duo muttered.  
"I heard that!" Wufei snapped back, grabbing his pajamas. Worried that another waterfight might explode, Trowa quickly handed his friend the pink bunny pajamas.   
"Wufei, how do you tell your pajamas from your normal clothes?" Heero asked.   
"Well. I- I just can!" Wufei snapped back.   
"Next!" Duo commanded, eager to have someone try to guess his outfit.   
"Well I bet the black ninja pajamas are Heero's!" Wufei yelled out, eager to change the subject.   
"Wrong!" declared Duo, the owner of the ninja outfit and face mask made out of an old sock, "They're mine! You loose, Wufei!"  
Growling, Wufei threw the black pajamas at Duo angrily. "All right, well the big purple shirt has to belong to Heero than."  
"Incorrect," Heero shook his head.   
"In your face!" Duo screamed, jumping up and down gleefully while trying to put on his night clothes at the same time.   
"It's mine, actually," Trowa admitted. "I left it over here last time I came over." The spiky haired boy took the huge shirt from the pile and popped it over his head. The oversized nightshirt came down to his knees.   
"Tell me this isn't mine," Heero muttered, raising the white shirt and pants up in the air. The plain white outfit was covered with red rockets from head to toe.   
"Actually it's mine!" Quatre piped up, "But your clothes got wet so I guess Cathrine got some of mine! You can borrow it, though!" he added generously, trying to be nice to the stone faced boy.   
  
  
"Thanks," Heero said, rolling his eyes as Wufei erupted into laughter, pointing and giggling at the out of place ensemble on the worrier boy. As the boys followed Wufei's example and burst into laugher, Trowa finally found his comb and brushed his hair out of his eyes, allowing him to help Quatre get into his cute frilly underwear with numerous bunnies smiling and waving.   
"All right, kiddies!" Cathrine had finished her doom mopping and returned to her charges. "All dressed? Good. What's next?"  
Cathrine soon found herself bombarded with demands, "Food! Games! Terrorizing the neighbors! Meditation! A tea party!"  
"Children!" she screeched, trying to stop the endless noise, "be quiet! Why are all children so damn noisy?" Cathrine asked. Trowa had covered Quatre's ears an instant before her use of foul language and was allowing the small boy to hide his head in the adolescent's shirt.   
Breathing heavily, Cathrine looked quite deranged, leaning on her mop, her eyes wild with rage. "Why don't you just go down to the big kitchen and get something to eat while I finish up here?" she asked, her voice filled with venom.   
"Yay!" Duo cheered, dashing out the door like the menus he enjoyed being so much, "Munchies!"  
The rest of the boy's followed as Duo tore across the carpeted hall, leaving wet footprints, past the fancy pictures, causing them to tilt crookedly, down the stairs, almost knocking over a painstakingly set up suite of armor, and to the feeding area.   
The dinning area practically sparked as the five small children ran in. The tile floor gleamed as the shiny floors caught the light. The countertop was so polished that Duo could see his face in it as he hoisted himself onto a stool. The large, circular, glass table was the centerpiece of the main kitchen and could fit Quatre, Master Winner, as well as Rashid and all the other servants.   
"Weee!" Duo hollered to the word as he beat his miniature fists against the booth, "This is great. Wufei, Heero! Bring me my snacks!"  
Quatre watched, helpless, as the terrible trio got to work on destroying his kitchen. Heero explored the room sized cupboard as Wufei proceeded to open every drawer, cabinet, and compartment within reach of his graspy hands.   
"It's OK," Trowa reassured Quatre reassured from behind him, "They're only going to get into trouble with my sister. At best she'll make them clean it all up."  
Soon, all of the boys were sitting at the counter. Duo munched happily as he surveyed the loot his deputies had scrounged up. "Let's see. Heero, you can have the Totilla chips because they have no flavor, just like you have no personality. Trowa, you can have the BBQ chips because I don't like them. Ew, animal crackers!"   
Duo threw the half empty box of crackers in Quatre's general direction, causing them to fall off the counter and scatter across the floor. "I bet the only reason you eat those is because you think they're cute!" Duo announced.   
"What about me?" Wufei demanded, "What do I get?"  
Duo paused considering Wufei's request. An idea popping into his head, he calmly handed Wufei a bag of dry speggetti, "Here ya go!" he announced happily, jumping off the stool before Wufei could respond, "Come on, let's go to the nifty looking table!"  
As Quatre crawled across the floor, trying desperately to rescue his adorable crackers, he soon found himself bombarded with feet. "Oh no!" he wailed as the precious cookies in the shapes of all his favorite animals were crushed by the stomping of little boys. Near tears, he looked at the remains of his "little friends."   
"It's OK," Trowa got down on his knees and helped Quatre try to pick up the remains of Duo's path devastation, "They've gone to a better place."  
Quatre sniffed, nodding and wiping his runny nose with one hand. "Trowa! Quatre!" Duo called out, demanding their attention, "We're going to play truth or dare and you're going to play with us! Or else!"  
As the pair made their way over to the table, Trowa squeezed his friend's hand reassuringly. Duo had a jumbo size bag of cheetos open and was scarfing them down with one hand while trying to open a package of pretzels with the other. "All right, here's how it works. The person who's it asks someone truth or dare. If they pick truth than the first person asks them a question and they have to answer truthfully. If the person picks dare than the other person dares them to do something and they have to do it!"  
"How do you win?" Heero asked, eager to be the best at whatever they were doing.   
"You don't win!" Duo replied condescendingly.  
"Well then what's the point?" Wufei demanded, adding to Heero's statement.  
Duo, annoyed that everyone was ganging up on him, snapped sharply back, "There isn't one!"  
"Well then why play?" Trowa asked quietly, just as eager to play teaparty than this boring sounding game.   
"Just because!" Duo practically yelled in his face, "For that, you have to go first! Trowa, truth or dare?"  
"Come on guys," Quatre whined, "Leave him alone! Trowa and I are going to play teaparty upstairs."  
Duo laughed, as if what Quatre had said was the funniest thing in the world, "Teaparties are for girls," he informed the younger boy, "Besides, you've hogged Trowa all day, it's time for him to play with the big boys."  
Trowa smiled at the way his tomodachi, his friend, tried to defend him. Despite his nonassertive tendencies, Quatre would still try to defend him. It was actually quite flattering. Underneath the table, Trowa squeezed Quatre's knee sending a private message between them. Outloud, he addressed Duo, "It's OK, Quatre. I'll play your silly game, Duo. I choose Dare."   
Trowa gave Duo a challenging look, egging him to do his worst. Duo leaned back, satisfied on having persuaded Trowa to play. "Great," Duo declared victoriously, "Now all I have to do is think of something to make you do."  
As Duo munched on his cheetos, pondering the many humiliating acts he could force Trowa to do, he noticed Trowa's hand resting Quatre's knee. The playmates were whispering and giggling together, in their own private world. Something inside Duo stirred, and he squeezed his pretzel bag tightly, crushing his delectables in his small fist. Could it be he was feeling jealously? It couldn't be! Jealously for the porcupine head and his stupid blonde? It made him angry, ferocious, powerful. Duo smiled, an idea popping in his head that would embarrass both of his competitors.  
"All right, Trowa," he said aloud, grinning. "Since you and Quatre seem to love each other so much, I dare you to kiss!"  
Wufei had been leaning against his chair until it was precariously balanced between lying on its back and sitting upright. When Duo spoke the emphasized word, his eyes bulged and to his distress, his weight slipped from out from under him. With a squeal, he fell backwards, landing with a thump on his back, his legs up in the air.   
Both Quatre and Trowa had turned a bright shade of pink. Quatre pulled the long ears of his bunny suit over his face in embarrassment. Trowa wasn't sure what he'd expected, but that sure wasn't it. A part of him was almost excited at this new development, but the other was ashamed, not only of the event itself but of that excitement that he held deep within him. Trowa's heart beat sped up.   
"What?" he asked in lack of a better question.  
"You heard me!" Duo yelled triumphantly, "I've seen the way you look at him! Don't look away from me! You know what I'm talking about. If you adore him so much, god knows why, then give him a kiss to prove it!"  
Wufei got to his feet, angry with himself for loosing his cool, and relieved that no one had apparently noticed. "Worrier," Heero snorted under his breath, earning a look from the Chinese boy.   
"A kiss?" Quatre asked from deep within his pajamas, "Like one a mommy and daddy give each other?"  
"Exactly!" Duo stated triumphantly, "With tongue!"  
"Hang on a sec," Trowa protested, while one half of him asked why he was objecting something a part of him wanted, "That's not fair!"  
"Why not?" Duo asked matter a factly.  
"Because it involves Quatre so it's actually two dares," Trowa searched for a loophole.  
"Well I'm daring you both of you then," Duo informed the other boy, "or are you scared?"  
Even the reserved Trowa couldn't run from a challenge like that one. "Of course not!" he protested.   
"Well then," Duo shot back, "Go right ahead. He's all yours."  
Trowa turned to his little angel, brushing the blonde's hair out of his beautiful face. "Well. I guess we kiss. It says in the rules that you have to do what the other person says," he explained, trying to justify how he felt to himself more than anyone else.   
"I guess so," Quatre admitted, looking away.   
"Yup," Trowa replied, shuffling his feet from under the table.  
"Well," Quatre twiddled his paws nervously. "Hey, it's just like playing mommy!" he added, a thought striking him, "only you'll be the daddy this time."  
"Hey, yeah," Trowa agreed, liking the idea much more than facing the way he felt, "It's just a silly game anyways."  
"Yeah!" Quatre agreed.  
"It's just a game, it's not real," Trowa added softly, as the pair moved slowly closer to each other.  
"Just a game," Quatre whispered, his eyes locked with Trowa's.  
"Not. Real," Trowa explained softly as the pair moved even closer.  
"Close your eyes, mon petite," Trowa murmured as their lips slowly inched closer to each other. A voice caused them both to jump.  
"Just kiss already!" Heero shouted uncharacteristically.  
Trowa looked towards him and raised an eyebrow. Heero shrugged, the rockets bouncing appealingly. The adolescent turned back to his Quatre and tilted his head sideways as he leaned forward. Trowa couldn't help but notice how beautiful Quatre looked as their lips met. At first it was awkward, both inexperienced and their teeth grinded together. Duo and Wufei chuckled in the background, but it seemed to be a different world. Trowa waited for Quatre to pull back but to his surprise, the blonde boy startled his tomodachi instead found himself returning the embrace. Gradually, they got comfortable with each other and their tongues danced together. After a half minute had gone by Duo broke the silence that had gradually settled after the laughter had died down. "OK, you can stop that now. Guys? Trowa! Hellooooooo?"  
Hesitantly, Trowa broke away from the kiss, his face and eyes bright. He took a deep breath, grinning like a schoolgirl. He laughed, releasing some of the electricity that had shocked him when their lips had met. "Trowa!" Quatre whispered, "What happened to you in the water is happening to me!"  
Trowa had just enough time to cock his head quizzically before Duo grabbed his attention oncemore. "All right I think that was quite enough of that! Let's move on!"  
"Yes please!" Wufei agreed, "They're making me sick. That's really gross! Don't you think so, Heero?"  
Heero was looking off into space with a dreamy look in his eyes. "I don't know," he mumbled, "I think it's kind of romantic."   
"Ew! What's your problem?" Wufei demanded, "Romantic? Haven't Dr. Jay and the other scientists purged that from you yet? Romantic....... really!" Wufei snorted in disgust, hoping to provoke him into a duel. To Wufei's disappointment, Heero held his tongue and silently glowered at the oriental boy.   
Duo, seeking to please his secret idol, spoke up, "Don't listen to him, Heero. I think it's good that you're not a complete drone yet. Hey! Where do you two think your going?"   
Trowa and Quatre had almost reached the big swinging door of the kitchen when Duo noticed their absence. "We were just leaving, actually," Trowa explained, "I did your silly dare already so we can leave."   
Duo shook his head, pulling another hidden card from his sleeve, "Nuh uh! I dared you so now you have to dare someone! It's part of the rules!"  
Trowa rolled his eyes, shrugging at Quatre. "Sorry little one. Looks like we have to stick around for a little while longer."  
The blonde boy's lower lip seemed to inflate as he pouted, "But Trowa! I want to go now!"  
"I'm sorry, mon ami, but we have to obey the rules," Trowa explained, "It won't take long. I promise." Trowa turned back to the other boys, sighing. "All right. Let's get this over with. Who do I dare?"  
"Pick me! Pick me! Daremedaremedareme!" Duo squealed. Wufei smiled and behind Duo nodded his head vigorously and pointed at Duo violently.   
  
Trowa paused, smiling slightly, "I pick.......... Wufei."   
Wufei exhaled loudly as everyone turned to look at him. "Not me!" he whined, "Pick anyone but me!"  
"Too late!" Duo declared triumphantly, "He picked you! You have to do what he says!"  
Trowa rolled his eyes, thinking it all very childish despite the fact that he enjoyed a teaparty with Quatre very much. "Must be the company I keep," he thought to himself. "All right, Wufei. Truth or dare?"  
"Truth!" Wufei declared causing a snort from Duo.   
"Coward," Heero muttered under his breathe causing Wufei to straighten and splutter like a agitated emu.   
"Injustice!" he declared, "I am not a coward. Trowa, I choose dare!"  
"Excellent," Duo murmured from behind Wufei. "Trowa, I have a suggestion for you."  
"You're not allowed to do that!" Wufei yelled as Duo jumped off the chair and scampered over to his useful pawn.   
"Yes you are! There's no rule against that!" Duo snapped back, whispering hurriedly in Trowa's ear.  
"Eww!" Trowa crunched up his face in disgust, "That's repulsive."   
"I know!" Duo responded proudly, his eyes aglow.  
"This is stupid," Trowa rolled his eyes before turning to an anxious Wufei. "All right Wufei. I dare you......." Trowa paused, sighing.  
"What!" Wufei demanded, "I dare you to do what!?"  
"Oh man, this is so stupid. Wufei, I dare you to steal Cathrine's bra."  
"And......" Duo prompted, grinning from ear to ear.  
"And dance around while wearing it like a hat," Trowa finished in one breath, glaring at Duo.   
"Oh my!" Quatre exclaimed, turning a pink that matched his pajamas.  
"No way!" Wufei protested.  
"Then you're a coward," Heero interjected.  
"I was going to say that," Duo exclaimed beaming at Heero.   
"Well I just beat you to it, didn't I?" Heero responded almost playfully.   
"I'm not a coward!" Wufei interjected, "But I can't do it for health risks!"  
"What health risks?" Duo demanded, reluctantly turning away from Heero.   
"Well, the fact that Cathrine will kill me if I do it, for starters!" Wufei snapped.  
"We'll protect you!" Duo explained, "Besides, if you don't do it, Heero and I will do a lot worse than she could do! Right Heero?"  
The stern boy nodded, his face showing no trace of a smile. Wufei gulped. "A lot worse than she could do. Right!" Trowa muttered sarcastically.   
"All right!" Wufei exhaled, "I'll do it! But how? I can't exactly take it off her!"  
"Easy," Duo explained, "Haven't you noticed how long it's taking her to get down here? It doesn't take that long to mop!"  
"So?" Wufei asked.  
"Soooooo, she's taking a bath. Quatre, you've got twenty seven sisters, you can verify for me! Don't girls often take baths when they're upset about something?"  
"Twenty nine actually," Quatre corrected.  
"Whatever!" Duo sighed exasperatedly. "The point is that she's certainly up there taking a nice long relaxing bath. Well it won't be relaxing for long! Wufei! Fetch me my bra so that you may dance with it on your head to amuse me!"  
"I thought this was Trowa's dare," Wufei complained.  
"A mere technicality! Now stop whining and get it over with!" Duo shot back. "Or are you afraid?"  
"The great Wufei is afraid of nothing!" Wufei announced, "I will prove to you once and for all that I am the mightiest warrior in the world."  
"Wufei," Heero scoffed, "You're not even the mightiest warrior at this table."  
"That's it!" Wufei snarled, "Now I will have to prove you wrong! I will complete this dare with honor!"   
Stomping angrily, Wufei stormed out of the room to complete his mission, ignoring the mocking laughter behind him. When the door slammed and the laughter had faided, Duo turned to Heero. "Well, now that he's out of the way we can go on our own little mission."  
"Duo!" Trowa scolded, horrified at the amounts of provocation of his statement.   
"That's just plain dirty!" Heero spluttered, blushing.  
"What are you talking about?" asked a clueless Quatre, "Does the mission involve lots of mud or something?"  
"Never mind," Trowa shielded his angel, "Don't worry your little head about it."  
"I didn't mean it like that!" Duo protested, "You guys watch too much MTV!"  
"Well at least I don't listen to trash! 'Rap boy'!" Trowa shot back before biting his tongue. As childish and annoying as Duo indisputably was, it didn't help things to attack back.   
"I like rap," Heero informed Duo almost shyly.  
"Really?" Duo responded, "That's almost normal of you Heero! Hey! I have a dare for you! I dare you to go steal the neighbor's cammel with me!"  
"You mean Mr. Mohammed's?" Quatre peeped, "I don't think that's a good idea. He breeds race cammels. They're mean! They spit and bite and they're not at all cute!"  
"Hey!" Duo snapped back, "Did anyone ask you, blonde? Why are you still here? Why don't you and Trowa go off scampering and have a teaparty with the codfish family or whatever."  
"I'd like that. It sounds like fun," Heero accepted Duo's invatation to chaos.   
"Hey, are the codfish the cute ones with the whiskers?" Quatre asked as the door slammed open and Wufei ran in screaming. On top of his head Cathrine's maroon bra flapped up and down like a wounded seagull on a windy afternoon.   
"Keep her away from me! She's going to kill me!" he wailed, tearing across the kitchen, almost slipping on the tile.  
"Damn straight I'm going to kill you you little pervert! Chikusho!" Cathrine screeched. She was dressed only in a bath towel which she held with one hand while the other grasped a bar of soap which she was trying to shove down Wufei's throat. Her wet feet slapped against the tile floor making loud thwacking sounds everytime she took a step.   
"Time to make our exit," Trowa whispered to Quatre.   
"I think you're right," Quatre agreed, his eyes wide as Cathrine's foul mouth poored out a stream of curses. Duo and Heero had concured and the four boys silently backed away from the violent scene unfolding before them.   
"Duo! I thought you said you'd help me!" Wufei protested, crawling on his hands and knees under the table to escape the prune hands of death.  
"Change of plans," Duo confessed, standing behind a protective Heero, "I'll catch you later though."   
"Duo!" Wufei yelled angrily, scrambling to his feet as Cathrine clamored across the glass surface of the table on all fours. The god of death laughed as he and Heero ran out the screen door, banging it behind them.  
Trowa lead a dismayed Quatre out the doorway to the room just as Cathrine backed Wufei into a corner. "There's no where else to run, Wufei. You're all mine!" As the pair burst into a run, Cathrine's laughter seemed to echo throughout the house.   
"Come on!" Quatre urged, breaking out of his horrified trance, "I know a place we can hide." Content to let his crush lead him anywhere he desired, Trowa followed Quatre as he darted from hallway to hallway, room to room.  
In his mind, Trowa couldn't help but notice how bunny-like his blonde boy actually looked, hopping from hidingplace to hidingplace. "Hurry up!" Quatre begged, turning back briefly to clasp his hands together. Trowa nodded, quickening his pace.   
"Fine," he thought, "If you're the cute little rabbit than I'll be the fox. I'll trot after you wherever you may lead." Wishing he had a tail or shirt that didn't flap up expose his little boy boxers, Trowa trotted after his angel down a flight of stairs.  
"Where are we going?" he asked, wondering why they had gone to the basement. Trowa looked around. The room was large but cozy. It was filled with huge circular pods with pipes going from them up into the ceiling. The big waterheaters could probably warm up the whole house if desired. The room was surprisingly warm though the floor was still ice cold.   
"You'll see!" Quatre giggled at his little secret. "This is my favorite room in the whole house!" he explained, tugging on Trowa's hand.   
Confused but agreeable, Trowa followed Quatre to a big wooden door that lead into another room. Quatre grunted in a highpitched voice as he tried to turn the handle which had been positioned far too high. Even standing on his ballerina toes, the small boy was unable to reach the doorknob. Jumping repeatedly in a vain attempt to reach it, he turned to Trowa for assistance. "Trowa," he whined, "help!"  
The older boy smiled, standing up as high as he could. Trying not to make a fool out of himself by falling backwards, Trowa stood up as straight as he could and yanked down on the knob. With a creak that implied age, the door slowly slid open, revealing the room that spread out before them.   
The room was warm but not as humid as the previous chamber. It was small, at least compared to the rest of the household's gigantic apartments. The floor was carpeted with a thick layer of fuzz that tickled Trowa's bare feet. The snug room was partially filled with several box like machines. From one of the machines a chute dumped into a large basket big enough to fit three people. The room was filled with the smell of clean laundry and the pleasing whirring noise of machinery working away.   
  
"This!" Quatre declared, "Is my favorite place in the whole world!"   
"I can see why," Trowa said truthfully. The room was cozy and warm, a perfect Quatre environment. It was apart from the rest of the world, safe and secure. For a moment, he just stood still and breathed it in.  
"Come on!" Quatre tugged his arm, "You haven't seen the best part yet!"  
"Oh," Trowa allowed himself to be dragged over to the hamper. A part of him wanted to savor the feeling of the pink carpet between his toes but he favored Quatre's desire. The room was so unlike anything he was used to. It was so..... quiet and soothing. Peaceful. Living with an older sister like Cathrine rarely resulted in any harmony. At all. Not even a little.   
"Hurry up, silly!" Quatre urged, jumping repeatedly. Wearing the bunny suit, he looked so adorable Trowa's heart felt like it was melting.  
"I'm coming," Trowa reassured as the blonde boy led him over to the hamper.   
"Help me up," Quatre demanded.   
"What's the magic word?" Trowa asked playfully, causing Quatre to stick out his lower lip.  
"All right," Quatre conceded. "Help me up RIGHT NOW!" the little boy shouted at the top of his little boy lungs. Caught completely by surprise, Trowa fell backwards awkwardly and landed with a muffled thump on the soft carpet.  
"Are you OK?" Quatre quickly apologized, getting down on his hands and knees.   
"I'm fine," Trowa reassured, trying to cover up his exposed underpants with the shirt. "You just startled me, that's all."  
"I'm sorry," Quatre apologized, looking down at his paws.  
"It's all right," the older boy reassured, getting to his feet, "It was funny."  
"Really?" Quatre giggled, pleased with himself.  
"Yes," Trowa informed him. For a moment he paused, caught in indecision. Than, quickly entaking a breath, he leaned over and kissed Quatre on the forehead. The other boy went rigid and for a moment Trowa was afraid he'd made a horrible mistake. Then he saw Quatre's beaming face. The smile almost split the other boy's face in half and his eyes sparkled magically.   
"Well," Trowa paused, "Are you going to show me this special place of yours?"  
"Uh huh," Quatre agreed, "Of course! But first you have to help me get up into the hamper.  
"All right," Trowa conceded gladly, "step on my leg and hoist yourself over."  
Nodding, Quatre clamored up onto Trowa's leg. Making high grunting noises, he pushed his small body over the edge of the huge wicker basket and landed in a large pile of laundry fresh out of the drier. As Trowa quickly scrambled to join him, the young boy closed his eyes, stretching out his small arms and legs to make a star.   
With a gentle thud, Trowa landed next to him. For a moment the pair just laid still, inhaling the smell of laundry right out of the drier. "I can see why this is your favorite place," Trowa murmured thoughtfully, "It's so peaceful."  
"It's warm," Quatre explained, "and it smells good. Sometimes I just come down here with my stuffed animals and curl up into a ball and take a nap."  
"I wish I had a place where I could curl up and go to sleep," Trowa mumbled dreamily, "If I want to take a nap in the middle of the day I have to sleep in the tiger den."  
"That's horrible!" Quatre declared, "If you ever want to take a nap come over to my house and we can go down to my special place and just lie here for as long as you want!"  
"Thanks," Trowa replied, snuggling closer to his friend. Slowly Trowa felt himself beginning to relax. The adolescent fought the wave of fatigue that threatened him. "Wait," he thought to himself, "why am I resisting? I'm safe here. This is where I belong."  
Trowa felt his eyes closing and allowed himself to loose touch with reality. His mind slowly began to wander away, leaving his stressfilled life and body behind. He was off in a dream world. Normally Trowa's dreams were filled with the things that lurked in dark alley ways. They were a tangle of terrible memories, suppressed during the day only to sneak their way into his nighttime illusions. This time, however, things were different. In this secure place, full of warmth and security, Trowa could allow himself to shut out his night time terrors. He was floating away, safe and untroubled with his guardian angel. For the first time since the incident, Trowa felt truly secure.  
The noise of muffled giggling and the occasional voice slowly brought Trowa back from his fantasies. Slowly he opened one eye. He could hear two voices now, and as his mind slowly adjusted to his current status, he realized both of them were very familiar. "Shhhh!" a voice managed to splutter out between muffled giggles, "They'll hear us!"  
Groggily, Quatre muttered as he slowly returned to the world of the awake, "Trowa? What's going on?"  
"Shhh!" Trowa hushed his companion by putting one finger upon his friend's lips, "Let's listen."  
Huddled together, the pair listened attentively as the voices got closer. The door made a bump as someone pushed into it and accidentally caused it to hit against the wall. Trowa became aware that the other pair was in the room and he listened more intently. The voices soon subsided and a silence was dominated only by a constant heavy breathing and the occasional burst of laughter.   
Trowa turned to Quatre, motioning him to stay quiet and slowly crawled towards the edge of the basket. Getting on his knees, he peaked through a hole that made a handle on the huge hamper. At first he couldn't spot the other occupants of the room. Then, looking more closely, he noticed movement near the side of the room. Trowa choked back a startled noise as he quickly crawled back to where his friend was waiting.  
"Well?" Quatre asked expectantly in a hushed whisper, "What'd you see?"  
Trowa took a deep breath. Was it just him or was the room about ten degrees hotter? "Well," Trowa drew out the word, trying to buy him a few more seconds, "I saw two people."  
"And?" Quatre asked impatiently, eager to find out the names of the individuals who had dared disturb his sleep.   
"It's our older brothers," Trowa explained in a hiss.  
"You mean Katoru and Torowa?" Quatre asked as if either of them had any other older male siblings. Trowa nodded, causing Quatre to first smile, then look confused. "Oh! I thought they said they were going somewhere tonight!"  
"They did," Trowa agreed, looking over his shoulder nervously.   
"Oh," Quatre processed the information slowly, "Well if they said they were going out than why are they in my basement?"  
"I have no idea," Trowa blushed, trying to ignore the sounds of fast breathing and the occasional sharp intake of breath from behind them.   
"Well let's say hi!" Quatre began to stand to Trowa's horror. Quickly, he grabbed the other boy's tail and yanked him back down before the teenagers could notice.   
"No!" he hissed, "We can't!"  
"Why not?" Quatre asked again, totally confused and seeking an answer.   
"Because," Trowa responded, trying to think of a good reason. Before you could find one, however, something large, floppy, and sweat soaked, came sailing over the edge of the hamper. To Trowa's horror, the removed shirt landed with a flop directly on top of bunny Quatre. "Eeep," Quatre squeaked from underneath the child-shaped bump in the pile of laundry.  
Trowa's heart froze as he heard the sound of voices. "Torowa!" Katoru exhaled in one big breath, breaking away from his boyfriend's embrace. Giggling, he rolled off the old couch in the far side of the room. "You can't just throw that in the clean laundry bin! I'll get in trouble!"  
Trowa froze as he heard the sound of bare feet against the carpet, coming closer. "Sorry," Torowa, mumbled, "you just made me forget everything but you."  
"Ohhhhhhh," Katoru sighed, "I know. But if we're going to keep doing this then we need to be careful. I promise I'll make it up to you." Trowa looked up and over the edge of the bin he could see the 17 year old Katoru, shirtless, with one finger in his mouth alluringly. Luckily he was still looking at Torowa, his eyes filled with lust.  
"I can hardly wait," Torowa slurred, swinging his feet off the couch and walking over to where his boyfriend was standing. He too, Trowa noticed, had removed his shirt. His muscular figure was fully exposed as he strode over to "assist" his partner. Putting his hands on the small of Katoru's back, Torowa bent forward to press his lips against the other boy's. With a sigh of pleasure Katoru leaned back until he was half lying on the dryer right next to the laundry bin. Appalled and yet unable to look away, Trowa looked on his eyes wide. With one hand, Katoru, felt around in the laundry basket for the shirt so he could get onto more important business. Trowa's eyes went wide as the hand slowly wandered over to where Quatre was covered.  
Frozen to the ground, Trowa was only able to watch as Katoru's hand slowly found its destination. With a flourish that only came with extreme hurry, Katoru, yanked away the shirt, exposing Quatre for all the world to see.  
  
  
Unfortunately, the uninformed Quatre had been holding onto the shirt and was yanked from where he was sitting. Surprised at the resistance, Katoru broke away from the feverish embrace to glance down into the bin. When his eyes scanned over Trowa and Quatre he jumped, quickly getting to his feet. "Oh my!" he squeaked, his words voicing the overall feeling in the room.   
"Excuse me," Torowa muttered quickly making for his shirt.   
"Umm..... hello Quatre. Trowa," Katoru addressed the pair's siblings. "Ummm, how much of that did you just see?"  
"Nothing!" Trowa reassured, more experienced in such situations, "Absolutely nothing!"  
"What do you mean?" Quatre turned to his best friend. "We just saw them kissing!"  
Trowa groaned slightly, mentally slapping his forehead like he'd seen people do on TV. As the foursome looked at one another, Trowa began to get nervous. He wasn't positive, but he was almost sure they weren't supposed to be down here without supervision. If Quatre's dad found out they had snuck off and gone down to the basement all alone, they'd be in big trouble. Maybe he wouldn't even be able to visit Quatre anymore. The very thought made Trowa's lip quiver. He couldn't let that happen.   
As Trowa looked at the oblivious Quatre, he tried to put on a brave face. He couldn't let Quatre know how much trouble they could be in. He had to be strong for Quatre. Trowa stood up straighter. He'd dealt with Cathrine before, so how much harder could this be?  
  
Katoru looked at his younger brother's face. Quatre was so naive, much like he himself had been nine years ago. If he told Quatre to run along and play and not say anything to their father, than he probably would. Of course Quatre was notorious for letting things slip. He didn't do it on purpose, he was just forgetful and on top of that, a horrible lier! Still, Katoru was sure he could deal with his sibling easily enough.   
The teenager looked at Trowa's sterner face. The other child had sucked in his gut and pushed out his chest. He had a defiant look on his face that made Katoru nervous. This one could be much harder to deal with. Without meaning to, the older blonde boy began to think about what would happen if their father found out. Mr. Winner would be furious to find out that Katoru had a boyfriend. Katoru had told him that he'd been going out with a girl he knew from someone from a dancing class. He was only half lying.   
Katoru had met Torowa in their private, all male, school when the blonde was being picked on by some older students. It was his first day of highschool at the time, and he had been near bursting into tears when a mysterious boy that Katoru had never seen before came up and told the bullies to leave him alone. Later, Katoru found out his rescuer's name. Torowa was a soughmore that was known for being a loner, almost never saying anything to anyone. Katoru, being a well brought up boy, had gone to Torowa's house to thank him. After spending the day with him, Torowa and Katoru became fast friends. Later, Torowa became aware that Katoru had a secret crush on him. After knowing each other for over six months, Torowa finally asked Katoru whether he wanted to be more then friends. They'd been going steady ever since.  
Of course almost everyone else knew Torowa and Katoru's little secret. It was amazing they'd been able to keep it as long as they had. If his father found out his first born male child had a boyfriend AND had snuck back into the house to make out, it would ruin everything. Katoru wouldn't let that happen. The teenage boy eyed Trowa warily. He'd have to come to some sort of arrangement with this child. Katoru felt Torowa reach out and take his hand and he knew everything would be OK. It would just take a little diplomacy.......  
  
"So, how are you?" Katoru broke the silence. Trowa looked away, his eyes scanning the wall as if he were looking for something.  
"I'm good," he mumbled. Still looking at the wall, Trowa played the older boy's game, wondering where it would take them, "You?"   
"Oh. Good," the teenager replied earnestly.   
"That's good," Trowa agreed.  
"Yep," Katoru replied in lack of a better thing to say. Both of their eyes were desperately searching the wall for something, anything to fix on. By now Torowa had put his shirt back on. He walked slowly behind Katoru and slunk his arms around the other boy's waist. Katoru started and then looked back smiling.   
Trowa was just gathering up his courage to ask whether the couple planned on telling that they'd been down there and how much he was going to have to do to convince them otherwise, when Quatre walked boldly up to Torowa. Before Trowa could say anything, Quatre deliberately tugged on the tall boy's pant leg.   
Torowa looked down at the young blonde, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "May I help you?" he asked in a serious tone.  
"Yes," Quatre informed him. Trowa braced himself. This could be bad.   
"I was wondering when you were going to apologize for intruding on my friend and I," the young master asked pointedly. Trowa began to sweat. This was even worse than he thought. There was no way he was going to get out of this without him shoveling something smelly.   
Torowa, obviously suppressing a smile, slowly got down on his hands and knees so he could look the little blonde boy in the eyes. The dark green eyes met with the ice blue ones. Still serious, Torowa apologized, "I'm sorry Master Quatre. We had no idea we were disturbing you."  
The spoiled heir turned away, waving a hand as he had seen his daddy do once, "That's better." Quatre strode over to the hamper and took one of his sister's bright red shirts, tying the sleeves together to make a cape.   
"Oh lord Quatre," Torowa begged, winking at his younger brother, "I beg for forgiveness!"  
Trowa eyed his brother warily. What was this? Why was Torowa sucking up to Quatre? Was this some sort of trick?   
Quatre, oblivious to any possible risks, was taking his new status very seriously. "Hmmm....." he wondered out loud, cocking his head comically to the side.   
Trowa wasn't sure what the older people were trying to pull, but the temptation of getting his older brother to do things for him was too much to resist. "I know what you can do!" he quickly interjected.   
"What?" Torowa asked suspiciously. Doing something for a cute little boy was one thing, but for his own brother was something else entirely.   
"You can tell Cathrine to let me come to Quatre's house any time I want for a whole month!" Trowa told his older sibling triumphantly. Quatre nodded, showing his agreement. Though he could always get Rashid or someone to pick up Trowa, the other boy often had to work at the circus and was "unavoidably detained" by his cruel older sister.   
"Well....." Torowa hesitated. Torowa was one of the few people Cathrine actually consent to, possibly because of all the "cute friends" he brought home. But even he was a little afraid of her. His younger sister was a complete psycho after all!  
A quick squeeze on the shoulder from his boyfriend signaled to take the deal. "OK," Torowa agreed.   
"Yay!" Quatre squealed jumping up and down excitedly, "Trowa can come over whenever he wants now!" Still jumping, Quatre pulled on his friend, "Come on, Trowa!" he squealed, "Let's go play!"  
"Not so fast, squirt," Torowa grabbed Quatre and held the struggling boy in his arms, "There's one condition."  
Uh oh, Trowa groaned. This was it. The big catch. "What is it?" Quatre asked, still trying to escape the older boy's arms.  
"We're going to play a little game. It's called, let's forget that anyone ever went into the basement. The rules are simple; pretend that nobody ever came down here."  
"OK!" Quatre agreed happily, "I love games!"  
"Good," Torowa smiled, "Now run along now and have your fun. Your older brother and I have to clean up down here for a little while."  
"All right," Trowa interjected, pulling on his best friend's arm, "Well we've got to be going then! Have a nice day!"  
Half dragging Quatre, the small pair shot out the door. As they darted up the stairs of the basement, the older couple laughed at the message printed on Quatre's "cape." I luv boys.  
A few seconds later the door to the basement banged shut, leaving the couple to each other. Still chuckling, Torowa got back to his feet and turned back to Katoru. "You know," he mused aloud, "I think that boy takes after his brother."  
"What do you mean?" the other boy asked, reaching out a hand to help Torowa unbutton his shirt.  
"Well," Torowa hesitated, "I mean- I hear kids are getting into relationships at a much earlier age these days."  
"Torowa!" Katoru scolded, smacking his boyfriend with a nearby piece of laundry.   
"Well what were they doing down here anyways?" Torowa defended himself, laughing.   
"Probably napping or playing a game, you sicko!" Katoru reproach jokingly.   
"I don't know," Torowa threw aside his shirt, "I've seen the way Trowa looks at him and I'm telling you there's something there."  
"Is that right?" Katoru played, tapping Trowa's nose with a single slim finger.  
"You better believe it," Torowa murmured, leaning forward to embrace his boyfriend. Soon, the pair ended up on the couch but Trowa and Quatre were long gone.  
As Trowa scurried to safety, one thought ran through his head over and over again. "I can't believe it."   
They'd managed to get out of trouble. This alone was hard to believe. Though it hadn't occurred to Trowa at the time, they'd been a restricted area. Not only was the basement probably off limits but nobody had known where they were. This qualified for major punishment. Not only had they gotten away with it, but Torowa had also volunteered to do something nice for someone else.   
Ever since Torowa and Katoru had started going steady, all Torowa could thing about was Katoru this or Katoru that. "I can't help you with your chores, I'm going to a movie with Katoru. I'm sorry, but I already said I would help Katoru pick out a new wardrobe." So what was different this time?   
Before Trowa could spend anymore time pondering his brother's motives, he became aware that Quatre was saying his name. "What'd you say?" he asked, his eyes and mind returning from that far off point on the wall.  
"I said, where do you want to go now?" Quatre repeated, stamping one bunny foot against the floor impatiently.  
"I don't know," Trowa checked his wristwatch. Cathrine described it as cute when she picked it out, but the wearer had to argue. It wasn't as if he didn't like the bright red and yellow colors and the big smiling clown in the center of the face of the watch. It simply wasn't the type of thing he wanted to wear. It was just too....... cute. Just like he wouldn't wear overalls and a train hat, he didn't want to wear a watch with a clown on it. It was more like something he'd give to Quatre. Still, it told him the time, and that was the important thing.  
"It's getting kind of late," he admitted, "It's almost your bedtime."  
"I don't wanna go to sleep," Quatre pouted, "How long till sleepy time?"  
"Well your bedtime's at 7:30," Trowa voiced. He hadn't fully mastered doing math in his head.   
"Nuh uh!" Quatre contradicted, "Rashid says I can stay up late if I'm having a sleepover. My bedtime is 8:30 when I got friends staying the night."  
"OK," Trowa calculated, "Well then we have another hour and a half."  
"What?" Quatre asked, confused.  
Trowa smiled, taking into account that he was dealing with a nieve seven-year-old. "Let's see. It's one Sesame Street and one Mr. Rogers."  
"Oh," Quatre considered Trowa's statement, "Well why didn't you just say so!?" he exclaimed. Before Trowa could answer, he once again began to drag him to the best of his ability. "Come on!"   
"Where are we going?" Trowa asked as he let Quatre tow him down the Winner's spotless hallway.   
"We're going to my room to play house," the blonde explained. "Stupid Duo wrecked all our fun before by making us play his dumb games." Quatre continued to babble about the many reasons why house was more fun than truth or dare. Trowa listened dutifully, nodding and giving the occasional word of agreement. Personally he didn't really have a preference. As long as it was with Quatre. That was all that mattered.   
  
By the time they'd reached Quatre's room, they'd gone up three flights of stairs, down two separate hallways, past no less than three bathrooms, and several of Quatre's other playrooms. Quatre was out of breath and panting and Trowa was wondering whether he should carry him the rest of the way before he realized they'd arrived.   
Panting, Quatre practically exhaled his final argument, "Now we're going to have some real fun! Without Duo or his silly games."  
Trowa nodded his agreement before twitching his head, suddenly hearing something. "What's that sound?" he asked Quatre.   
"I don't know," the heir of the Winner family admitted.   
"It's coming from your room," Trowa observed, trying to identify what the sound was. Then he noticed the ground was shaking slightly.  
"Trowa," Quatre whined, "I'm scared."  
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Trowa reassured, more curious than afraid.  
Reassured by Trowa's statement, the blonde reached up a small hand and yanked on the big handle on the door with the gold star. The door vaguely resembled that of an actor's. Quatre's name was imprinted fancily on the shape made out of real gold. With a small grunt of exertion, Quatre opened the door, revealing the scene of chaos before them.  
The first thing they noticed was the unusual placement of the furniture. Quatre's room was huge but never-the-less filled with wonderful things that caught his fancy. The walls were covered in shelves and pictures, some of which the master himself had drawn. The shelves themselves were full of stuffed companions some of them tiny others colossal, but all of them "cute." Of course he insisted on sleeping with every last one of them.   
When one of them had gone missing about a month ago when Trowa had spent the night, not only had the young master noticed, but he had thrown a fit, bursting into a flood of tears and refusing to sleep until it had been found. A full search had to be called to find "Mr. Hoppers." It had taken them half the night but eventually they found the missing plaything. Of course by then Quatre had fallen asleep, despite his contradictions the next morning. Trowa had gotten to bed, tired after the long search, and snuggled up against his best friend with all the other, more artificial, companions.   
Now though, the many playthings were tossed around the room, the few left on the shelves in a state of disorder. Quatre usually had two centerpieces to his room. The first was a huge doll house, more like a doll estate really. Like everything else in the household, it was huge, big enough to house not only Barbi and her family, but Ken, his family, all their relatives, Barbi's work friends from her various professions, and still have plenty of room in case anyone else showed up for a party. Though of course Quatre would never play with any of those things. Even if he wanted to, Quatre's sisters made sure that he would never get his hands on one, claiming that they were "unrealistic" and a "disgrace to woman kind" by "raising standards for a lady's appearance to an unattainable level." Trowa had nothing to say about Quatre's many feminist sisters or their attitude about Barbis. He only knew that he enjoyed playing with Quatre's stuffed animals in the colossal maintain just as much as the young Winner did.   
The other usual centerpiece was a fake kitchen, livingroom, bathroom, dinning room, and porch. Quatre had wanted to get a second story installed as well, but luckily Rashid managed to convince him that it was really unnecessary and that some houses didn't even have a second story.  
Trowa could remember spending many an hour pretending to be a grown up in that house. They both made dinner, went to work, took care of the family pet, took care of each other when one would get sick, played a family game, and everything else a normal family would do. Sometimes one of them would pretend to be the child and the other one would have to take care of the other. Usually Trowa would end up being the father or "mommy" but he didn't mind. He liked it like that, taking care of his little angel in the form of a game. What he liked best though, was when the pretended to be a couple with kids. Usually they had a plaything, a "little buddy as Quatre referred to them occasionally, be the child, but sometimes Quatre made Rashid be the kid. It was funny having the huge adult be a toddler, or better yet, an infant. What Trowa liked best about it though, was being a partner with Quatre. Having to go through hardship with him, through joys and trials. In the game he could express himself without fear of reprimand, without putting anything on the line. Without risk. Free to let his innermost feelings out in the open. Not that Quatre would judge him even without the game. His angel truly was a friend.  
Trowa blinked, having gotten lost in thoughts. Neither centerpiece was in the middle area of the room. Instead, the floor had been roughly cleared to give the room's occupants more space. The rest of the room was in a state of chaos. Quatre's various toys were sprawled everywhere, as if they'd been tossed out of the way. The source of the sound came from one of Quatre's taperecorders. Having opened the door, Trowa could finally understand the slurred lyrics of the loud rap music pouring out of the box. Sitting on a rockinghorse behind the rectangular box, Duo munched on a bag of chips, looking pleased with himself.  
The vague rumbling was coming from Heero as he attempted to dance. The dark eyed boy remained passive as he jumped up and down in vague rhythm to the beat of the song. Holding on to his hands and also hopping, was a small, brown furred little monkey.  
"Duo!" Trowa yelled, covering Quatre's ears with his hands to shield his friend from the foul lyrics sprouting from the taperecorder.  
"Hey!" Duo yelled out, almost pleased to have been caught. After all, what was the pointing of causing mischief if nobody was around to complain?  
"What do you think you're doing?" Trowa demanded, further inspecting Quatre's room to make sure Duo hadn't done any permanent damage.  
"I'm just having a little fun," Duo whined, turning up the rap music and trying to ignore the two intruders, just because he knew it would annoy them.  
"Ooooh!" Quatre squealed, noticing the bouncing mammal in the center of his bedroom. Yanking off Trowa's hands, he ran over to inspect his newest "little buddy."  
In only a few seconds, Trowa was next to Duo. Pushing a button, the music cut off mid verse. "All right Duo," Trowa rolled his eyes. "Two questions. First, where'd the monkey come from? Second, why are you trashing Quatre's room?"  
"Geeze Trowa," Duo muttered, "Why do you always have to be such a spoilsport?"  
"Because I don't want you to destroy Quatre's house!" Trowa exploded, not sure whether to be angry or amused.  
"OK. Fine," Duo conceded defeat, "If you must know I got the monkey from Quatre's neighbor. Moe ham mud. We were going to seal a camel, but we couldn't find one," Duo finished sadly.  
"So you decided to steal a monkey instead!" Trowa wondered when the world had turned upside-down.  
"Yup!" Duo agreed. "But you can't get me in trouble for that!"  
"Why not?" Trowa asked, wondering what excuse Duo could come up with this time.  
"Because Quatre likes my monkey!" Duo proclaimed, pointing a finger to emphasize.  
Trowa followed Duo's finger and saw that Duo was right. Both the monkey and Heero, no longer feeling obligated to dance since the stop of the music, had sat down. The lovable primate was crawling across Quatre's shoulder. As Trowa's anger quickly faded, Quatre exclaimed, "I think I'll call him Hermies!"  
"And the room?" Trowa asked in a slightly less annoyed tone.  
"Hey, I didn't know it was Quatre's! It just seemed like a good a room as any," Duo denied.  
Trowa debated the wisdom in bringing up the name on the door, but decided against it. If Duo wanted to deny something, nothing Trowa would say would get him to admit the truth. Instead, he shot Duo a meaningful look and went over to where Quatre was playing with his new friend.   
"Hey," Trowa bent down a little to murmur in Quatre's ear, "Who's your friend?"  
"This is Hermies!" Quatre explained, "He's a monkey! And I like him!"  
Duo sulked in the corner, waiting for someone to notice his absence. When no one did, he let out a loud sigh, just in case they hadn't realized that the master of fun wasn't playing with them. Finally Heero looked up, "Hey Duo. What are you doing over there?"  
Duo decided to play it cool, "Oh, you know. Chilling."  
Heero considered this, "Oh. OK."  
To Duo's continued annoyance, Heero turned back to the other two boys and the monkey. This wasn't going as planned at all!  
Before Duo could continue his efforts to be the center of attention, a voice from the doorway startled everyone.  
"Children!"  
As everyone looked up, a frazzled Cathrine flung Wufei into the room. The boy was red faced and, despite his pain-killer training, had tear streaks from where he'd be crying. Cathrine was now fully clothed and had a towel in her hair. In one hand she held a ruler menacingly. "It's bedtime," she growled, her voice low and menacing.   
"But I still have another Sesame Street!" Quatre protested. Trowa winced, while at the same time trying to hide the monkey in his shirt.  
"Sesame Street or no Sesame Street, I'm saying it's bedtime now!" Cathrine yelled, not letting her puzzlement at Quatre's statement show.  
"I'm telling!" Quatre got up to find his father, "You can't do that! I'm the Winner heir!"  
"No, your hot brother's the family heir!" Cathrine contradicted.  
"Well I'm still a Winner son!" Quatre new his rights, "You wouldn't tell my father that he had to go to bed a whole Sesame Street early!"  
"Hopefully it wouldn't come up," Duo whispered to Heero, having crept back to the group.  
Cathrine through up her hands in aggravation, "Fine!" she explained exasperatedly, "But you have to be in your sleeping bags!"  
"But!" Quatre didn't like the sound of that at all.  
"Deal!" Duo interjected before Quatre could blow it.  
"Good," Cathrine smiled, "I'll go get your sleeping bags. Oh and you'd better be here when I get back!"  
"Or what?" Duo challenged.  
Cathrine turned her head back, smiling unkindly, "Or I'll stuff you in your sleeping bag backwards and make you sleep like that, after I zip the whole thing."  
"You wouldn't!" Duo called what he hoped was a bluff.  
"Watch me!" Cathrine hissed taking a step towards the room.  
"OK OK!" Duo backed down, "We'll be here!"  
When Cathrine had walked away, Duo turned back to his comrades. "So what are we going to do now that the bitch queen is making us stay in sleeping bags? Trowa, stop playing with your monkey!"  
The oldest in the room was having troubles getting the primate out of his shirt. He just couldn't get the little thing out. It was crawling all over and try as he might he couldn't get a grip on it. Finally, he grabbed one of its paws and dragged it out.  
"Trowa!" Quatre was appalled, "Be careful! You're going to hurt it!"  
"Sorry," Trowa muttered, patting the monkey gingerly, "Are you OK little fella?"  
"People!" Duo interrupted, "I asked a question!" When he noticed Heero and Wufei talking to each other, he quickly swooped in to intervene.  
"What do you two think you're doing!"  
"Heero was inspecting my wounds!" Wufei growled.  
"Let me see!" Duo demanded, grabbing on Wufei's arm none to gently. Even ten minutes later he could see the numerous imprints of Cathrine's sharp, claw-like nails. "OW!" Wufie yelped, "Be careful!"  
"That's nothing!" Duo protested. This one time, I was riding my bike and I wasn't wearing a helmet. I fell off and hit my head and I had to go to hospital! There was blood gushing out and it left this awesome scar!"  
"Ew!" Quatre exclaimed as everyone examined Duo's horrible scar, "That's disgusting!"  
"So when you were at the hospital did they open up your brain and take parts of it out to make you a better soldier?" Heero asked.  
Slowly everyone turned to look at him. "OK, maybe that's just me then," he muttered, looking down at his feet.  
"You can barely see it!" Wufei protested, disappointed that his fame had only lasted a few seconds.  
"Whatever!" Duo shrugged, "Anyways! I asked what we were going to do!"  
There was a several second silence as for once, nobody knew what to say. Finally Heero came up with a suggestion, "Tell ghost stories?"  
The five boys looked at one another, muttering. Duo voiced the general concerns outloud, "Sounds like a good idea. Lets do that."  
"I don't know," Quatre voiced his concerns, "It sounds kind of scary."  
"Oh they are!" Duo agreed, "Ghost stories can be very very scary!"  
"Not the way you tell them," Wufei laughed.   
"Did someone ask you?" Duo shot back.  
"Don't worry, Quatre," Trowa reassured. "I'll be right next to you the whole time."  
"Good grief!" Duo complained.  
Before Trowa could come up with a good response, Cathrine slowly trudged into the room. Behind her, she dragged four sleeping bags and a basket.   
"Why only four sleeping bags?" Heero asked.  
"Because his royal highness has to sleep in a bed!" Wufei explained curtly.  
"Children......" Cathrine warned, grunting from exertion. Finally, she was satisfied she'd gone far enough and spread the sleepingbags out on the floor hurriedly. "Good night," she growled, and then added wickedly, "Don't let the bedbugs bite!"  
"Bedbugs!" Quatre repeated in alarm.   
"It's just an expression," Trowa quickly explained, remembering the first time Cathrine had said that. She'd convinced him that huge bugs would eat his toes while he slept. Only after he'd sprayed the whole tent with foul smelling raid, did Cathrine explain that there was no such thing as a bedbug.  
Meanwhile, Duo was inspecting the basket. "What's in here?" he asked, yanking open the lid.  
"A rag?" he held up the worn blanket in confusion.  
"That's mine! Thankyouverymuch!" Trowa snatched his sleeping item away from the Duo menace.  
"Trowa has a blanky!" Wufei taunted, laughing.  
"It's not a blanky!" Trowa protested, "It's a blanket!"  
"What else is in here?" Duo was more interested in the other items than teasing Trowa.   
"A rock?" Duo struggled to lift the smooth stone.   
Wordlessly, Heero took his rock and set it down next to his sleepingbag. Noticing everyone's stares, he explained, "I use it as a pillow. It's part of my training."  
"Speaking of training," Duo brought out a long, sharp, silver letter opener.   
"Give me that!" Wufei grabbed his practice blade away from Duo quickly.   
"I'm not even going to ask," Duo muttered, shaking his head. The long haired boy lugged the basket over to his sleeping bag and dumped the rest of its contents on his bag. Action figures of various sizes and types tumbled out of the basket, scattering everywhere.  
"You guys are weird," Trowa commented, helping Quatre retrieve his stuffed animals from their various places around the room.  
"At least I don't have a blanky," Heero said quietly, smiling.  
"For the last time!" Trowa growled, "It's not a blanky!"  
"Whatever," Duo held up his hands passively, though he was smiling, "You're a little sensitive about this subject. Have you thought about going to see a professional about it?"  
"Can we just get on with the ghost stories?" Trowa sighed, putting the last stuffed animal on Quatre's bed.  
"Sure," Duo agreed, going over and turning off the lights. Quatre could be heard inhaling sharply. "For Pete's sake!" Duo grumbled, turning on Quatre's nightlight. Rashid had suggested they buy a fish tank with a light in it. However, Quatre vetoed the idea saying that most fish were too "uncute" to be put in his room. Instead, they'd installed a flower shaped cover over the bright bulb. The result was a pinkish light that filled the room with a dim glow.   
As everyone got settled in their mattresses, Duo cleared his throat. "So who wants to go first?"  
"I will," Wufei volunteered. The room fell into an unusual silence as everyone listened to Wufei's tale. His story was actually a legend was about a young warrior who fought a hidden foe who was both dangerous and dishonorable. The young man's ideals were put to the test in both battle and practice, yet he conquered and ended victorious over his cowardly foe. The legend was a good one, but as Duo put it, "That wasn't scary at all!" Of course Quatre argued that it was actually very scary and asked if they could turn the lights back on. Duo was quick to explain that it wouldn't be a ghost story if the lights were turned on.   
Next, Duo told a story that he assured would be scary. It centered around a blob that went around sucking people up and spitting out their guts. Of course the third grader was quite detailed in the gory scenes and by the end the whole room was feeling a little bit ill. When he finished, Duo looked around expectantly, grinning from ear to ear. "Scary, ne?"  
"Um..... no," Trowa contradicted, "It wasn't scary at all. Just really gross and might I add that you're disgusting!"  
"Thanks!" Duo replied gratefully, "Hey, what's wrong with the Q man?"  
Even by the dim light, Quatre looked a pale shade of green, "Trowa," he whined, "I don't feel so good."  
"Try not to think about it," Trowa advised, "You tell the next story."  
"OK," Quatre agreed, "This one's pretty scary."  
The young blonde proceeded to tell a short tale about a family of rabbits that lived in a field with an "evil fox." Even before the "and they lived happily ever after" ending, Duo knew it had to be the least scary ghoststory he'd ever heard.  
"That sucked!" he exclaimed when Quatre had finished.  
The young boy's eyes went wide and his lower lip began to tremble at the critique. "Now look what you've done!" Trowa snapped.  
"I don't like to be scary, all right?" Quatre whimpered.   
"Well that's good because you're certainly not very good at it," Heero chuckled.   
"Don't be mean!" Trowa advised the room, "You know Cathrine's my sister and we share the same genes so just keep that in mind!"  
"You share jeans?" Duo asked, "Aren't they too big for you?"  
"Never mind!" Trowa exhaled exasperatedly, "Just tell the next story already."  
  
  
And so Heero launched into a horrifying tale that kept everyone mesmerized till the end. His story was by far the scariest so far. It was about a monster, created by these scientists who were trying to build the "ultimate soldier." The monster looked human but only when he wasn't on the battlefield. As soon as violence erupted, he would go on a killing spree, destroying anyone in his path. He was an unfeeling brute, because that's how the scientists wanted him. The story ended with the scientist being destroyed by their own creation. There was utter silence as Heero finished his tale, "And so, to this day the monster still stalks the world, hunting down his enemies with ruthless efficiency."  
"Wow," Duo spoke in a hushed whisper, though he wasn't sure why, "That was really good."  
"Where'd you hear that story?" Trowa asked, his respect for Heero going up a notch.  
"I made it up, actually," Heero admitted humbly.   
"Sh!" Wufei cut off the speakers, "Did you guys hear that?" he asked anxiously.  
"Hear what?" Quatre's voice quivered from underneath his blanket.   
"Shut up, Wufei. You didn't really hear anything," Trowa said with more confidence than he felt.   
"Injustice!" Wufei protested under his breath, "I did too hear something," he hissed.  
Then they all heard it. A thump of something falling off a shelf. "It's in the room!" Duo whispered, his eyes wide. Wufei clutched his letter opener desperately. Even Heero looked troubled.   
"Wufei! You have the pointy thing, go kill it!" Duo spoke desperately. After all, it was only Wufei, a small sacrifice if something went wrong.  
"I'm not going!" Wufei hissed back.  
"What about your story about honor and bravery?" Trowa demanded quietly.  
"I don't see you doing anything!" Wufei shot back.  
"I have to stay and protect Quatre!" Trowa explained, glad now that he'd always stayed by Quatre's side.   
"YES!" Quatre finally spoke up, his voice wavering, "Trowa has to stay here!"  
"This is ridiculous," Heero stood up slowly, "I'm going to go turn on the lights."  
"No, Heero! Don't!" Duo protested, tugging on his friend's rocket pajamas.  
Ignoring his companion, Heero made for the lightswitch next to the door. As Heero reached for the lightswitch, a huge shadow appeared against the far wall. It was a horrible human shape, distorted with long hairy arms that seemed disproportionate to the body.   
"It's coming closer!" Duo yelled as the shape moved, looming and filling the back wall. As Heero flipped on the light, Quatre screamed, squinting his eyes tightly shut. Even Trowa looked away at the last minute. Only Heero was brave enough not to avert his eyes. It was his laughter that made the rest of them look back.   
Hermies scampered up Heero's leg and onto his shoulder, chattering excitedly. "Don't you guys all feel stupid," Duo attempted to ease his embarrassment.   
"What!" Wufei protested, "You were just as scared as we were!"  
Quatre slowly lowered the sheet from his head to look at what was so funny. "Hermies!" he exclaimed, giggling. "So that's what made that noise! Silly monkey!"  
"Well I feel pretty dumb," Trowa admitted, joining in the laughter that released the thick tension in the room. "So are we going to sleep now?"  
"Wait just a second!" Duo protested, "You haven't told your story yet!"  
"Oh yes, please!" Quatre begged, setting Hermies gently aside.  
"Oh I don't have a story," Trowa laughed, "I don't know a thing scary stuff."  
"I think you do," Heero quietly contradicted.  
Trowa raised an eyebrow at Heero, asking a silent question. The other boy looked back, as serious as ever. Something in his eyes seemed to say, I know something horrible happened to you and I'm sorry. Trowa nodded slowly. Maybe it was just in his head, but for a second a feeling of perfect understanding passed between them.  
"All right," he said softly, "I'll tell you a story."  
Heero nodded, satisfied and flipped off the light, again forcing the room into near darkness.  
Everyone settled back, eager for another tale. Trowa took a deep breath, closing his eyes and allowing himself to think back to memories that he usually pushed in the farthest corners of his mind.   
"The story starts with a young boy. About our age. His family was traveling and had stopped for a week of rest deep in the city, and because they were rather poor they had to park in the darker side of town. One day his sister told him to go shopping and buy groceries. She gave him some money and set him off on his way. After buying the items, the boy started his return trip. Much to his surprise, it had begun to get dark. By the time he was half way home, night had fallen on the city. Now our boy had never had anything bad happen to him before so he wasn't too worried. To keep his courage up, he skipped as he traveled, whistling a little tune. Then he heard the voice."  
"What did the voice sound like?" Duo interjected.   
Trowa kept his patience and favored Duo's question, "It was really nice. It was..... reassuring and kind."  
"Sounds like a nice person," Quatre piped up.  
"Yes, it does," Trowa agreed, "and the little boy thought so too. The man said, 'hello little boy. Are those groceries for your family?' And the little boy answered him, not worried about the nice voice. 'Yes they are! I'm going there now.' The little boy, being a nice person, reached into his pocket, coming out with a handful of change. He turned to the voice, which belonged to a man with a nice face but dirty clothes, and said 'I was supposed to give the change to my big sister. But if you want, I can give them to you instead.'"  
"What a nice little boy!" Quatre smiled, liking this story more and more. There was nothing scary about it and the little boy sounded cute.  
"Yes," Trowa agreed, trying not to let the sadness he felt come into his tone, "Yes it was a nice boy. So the boy reached out a hand to give the man his change. The nice stranger reached out to take it, smiling reassuredly. And then he grabbed the little boy's wrist. The change fell out of his hand, forgotten. There was a scuffle as the man dragged the little boy into the ally."  
"Oh no!" Quatre wailed, hiding under his covers again. Trowa continued, his eyes tightly closed and his breath coming quickly.   
"And the man. The man with nice face and voice, he took something from that boy."  
"Did he take his groceries?" Duo asked. Heero gave Duo at dirty look at the interruption and listened to Trowa intently.   
"No, no he didn't take his groceries. He took something far more precious than that. Something that could never be returned. When he was finished, he left the boy, his bare hip resting against the rough pavement."  
A single tear trickled down Trowa's cheek, his tribute to the part of him that had died that day. "And though the boy returned home relatively unharmed, he was never the same from that day forward. He was changed from that day onward. He was less out going. He had a hard time trusting people, even those that he knew were truthful. A part of him was gone, never to return."  
The silence that followed was an uncomfortable one. Finally Heero broke it, "So that's what happened to y- the boy."  
"I don't get it," Duo said bluntly.   
"Me neither," Wufei agreed.   
Quatre said nothing but instead looked at Trowa worriedly. He wasn't sure what the story was about, but whatever it was it had upset his protector greatly. It had to be horrible if it was enough to make Trowa that serious.   
"That was a stupid story," Duo complained.  
"Yeah," Trowa laughed, his voice catching a little, "It was pretty stupid."  
"Shut up, Duo," Heero said coldly.  
"What?" Duo looked between Trowa and Heero, confused.  
"Just shut up," Heero repeated, rolling over and putting his head on his rock.  
"What's wrong with him?" Wufei voiced aloud, putting his "sword" back under his pillow.   
"Oh you know Heero," Duo shrugged off his friend's verbal attack, "He just snaps sometimes."   
"Yeah," Wufei agreed, "Well good night everyone."  
Duo pushed some of his BEAT 'EM UP figures out of the way and snuggled into his cot. The evening had proved to be quite eventful after all. So much for the boring night at Quatre's.   
"Sweet dreams, mon petite," Trowa whispered loud enough for Quatre to hear before snuggling into his sleepingbag.  
Quatre laid back on his huge bed, thinking about Heero's scary story. About Trowa's disturbing tale. About what had happened to him that day. About the tear he'd seen on Trowa's cheek before the other boy had been able to wipe it away. Then, building up his courage, he quietly got out of bed and tiptoed over to where Trowa was sleeping.   
Quatre gently opened one of the flaps and slipped into the cot. Trowa opened his eyes slightly, before relaxing. Trowa allowed a smile to drift on to his face. After all, he was sleeping next to an angel, and right now, nothing else mattered. Quatre snuggled up against the warm body of his friend and exhaled deeply. Despite everything that might have happened before, or what was yet to come, in this room- everything was perfect. 


End file.
